with the internet and all of the technology that we have, it can happen anywhere. so thank you so much for being here, it's a great honor to host you here and i look forward to a very engaging conversation today. thank you. >> now i want to tell you my fae vifrt very favorite department of justice official. eric holder is my favorite department of justice official. tom perez is my second favorite department of justice official. we are very honored today that tom perez has come from washington, dc, to give welcoming remarks here at this summit. tom perez is the assistant attorney general of the civil rights division in washington, dc, he was nominated for that position by president obama and sworn in in october of 2009 and we are all the lucky -- we are all very lucky that that happened in october of 2009. tom has spent his entire career in public service and on protecting the civil rights of our most vulnerable people. tom actually joined the civil rights division as a young lawyer and while he was there he prosecuted some of the most significant cases in the count